


The Debate

by CodenameJD



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, When proofreading it I got like halfway through and thought it should have been the end, adrienette - Freeform, seriously, then I realised the rest of the fic was just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-19
Updated: 2018-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-04 19:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14027049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CodenameJD/pseuds/CodenameJD
Summary: Alya and Nino have been arguing.Who would win in a fight, Ladybug or Cat Noir?Marinette and Adrien have opinions.





	The Debate

“Marinette, I need your help!”

Marinette had managed to drag herself to class on time; the trade-off was that she was still half asleep as she stepped through the door. Hearing her best friend call out for help, however, snapped her to attention promptly.

“Alya!? What’s wrong?” she asked. Alya did not appear to be in any danger, nor was there any particular sign of an issue in the room besides the usual presence of Chloe and Sabrina. Alya was just stood at the front of the room talking with Nino, while Adrien sat next to them, smiling bemusedly.

“Nino here will not listen to reason and I’m at my wits end here,” Alya sighed, her face in her palm.

“I told you, Alya, I’ve been trying to make him see sense for weeks!” Adrien said with a chuckle. He turned and smiled at Marinette, rolling his eyes. She smiled back, a light blush tinging her cheeks.

“Well, I guess I’ll try. What are you talking about?”

Alya opened her mouth to speak, but Nino stepped towards Marinette and spoke up faster. “Okay, all things equal, no akumas or Hawk Moth or any other interferences, who would win in a fair fight between Ladybug and Cat Noir?”

“Oh, well that’s an easy one.”

“Thank you,” Alya said.

“Cat Noir, hands down.”

“WHAT!?” Alya and Adrien cried out together. Alya had stepped back, and Adrien had pushed himself to his feet, stepping around his desk. Marinette grinned nervously, scratching the back of her head.

“Thank you!” Nino sighed. “Someone can see sense and recognise my boy Cat Noir’s strength!”

“Marinette, I can’t believe you’d betray me like this, girl,” Alya said. She shook her head as she walked away to sit down.

“You really think Cat Noir would beat Ladybug?” Adrien asked, frowning and making Marinette feel like she’d kicked a kitten. “I mean, he’s gotten brainwashed or whatever by akumatised people how many times? And every single time Ladybug has utterly wrecked him!”

“Y-yeah, sure, if Cat Noir’s been messed up by an akuma, then Ladybug can snap him out of it, or get past him,” Marinette said. Her voice started fairly quiet, but as she kept speaking she grew more confident in what she was saying. “But Nino said a fair fight with no akumas involved. And in that case, I’m confident Cat Noir would win.”

Adrien looked aghast, but before he could open his mouth to offer his rebuttal, the bell rang and Miss Bustier entered the room. He mouthed “This isn’t over,” to Marinette, and for a moment she thought he was angry at her, before noticing the twinkle in his eye - a similar look to when they played Ultimate Mecha Strike III.

The second the class ended and everyone began filing out of the room, as Marinette was putting her things away, Adrien turned back to her.

“Look, it’s obvious that Ladybug is the brains of the team. She’s so clever and creative, she wouldn’t even need her powers to defeat Cat Noir! She could just look around and figure out how to win with a bottle of ketchup and an old mop.”

Marinette fought hard to hold back her blush and smile. On the one hand, it made her incredibly happy to hear Adrien heap these compliments onto her. On the other, she was sick and tired of people overlooking her partner and treating him like a sidekick. She strengthened her resolve as they began walking together behind Alya and Nino.

“I’m not denying that Ladybug is clever and resourceful, she has to be with her powers, but what people fail to realise is that Cat Noir is just as creative, and just as intelligent as she is! He has his Cataclysm, to destroy things, but the way he thinks about that and uses it is… practically artistic! Like, cutting through bars to make a cage, for instance…”

Adrien was about to retort, but found himself cut off once again as Marinette continued.

“And that’s not all! He’s not just good at thinking through using his powers, he absolutely comes up with plenty of their plans. He catches a lot of what Ladybug misses. They complement each other really well, that’s why they work so well together as a team.”

“Okay, okay,” Adrien said, smiling more broadly than one would expect for someone beaten back so much in a debate. “Okay, so both Ladybug and Cat Noir are smart, sure. Still not hearing what makes you think he could possibly have an edge over Ladybug.”

By this point they had sat down to eat their lunch, Alya and Nino watching them and listening raptly; both wanted their side to win the argument, but at this point they were more invested in how the pair were talking to each other.

“What about their powers? Okay, so Ladybug always finds a way to use her Lucky Charm, but Cat Noir’s Cataclysm could just be utterly devastating!”

“He’d never use it against Ladybug, though!”

“But he could, that’s the point. This is all hypothetical, obviously.”

The debate went on in and out of lessons for the rest of the day. Alya and Nino didn’t want to leave, but asked Adrien and Marinette to text them when they were through. They kept it up as they sparred in fencing. Afterwards, they walked together, neither thinking about it nor questioning it as Adrien walked home with Marinette; they were both too deep in the debate. They did manage to each greet Marinette’s parents as they arrived at the bakery, but otherwise they kept it going right as they walked up to Marinette’s room and sat facing each other as they kept arguing.

“He’s just so much more agile than she is-”

“She’s way more flexible-”

“Okay, okay, look,” Adrien sighed, running his hand through his hair, though smiling all the while. “At the end of the day, who always saves everyone at the end of every attack? Who de-evilises every akuma? Whose Miraculous has the power to restore all the damage done by everyone - including by the Cataclysm?”

Marinette frowned at this, flushing lightly as her frustration rose. “Two points: first of all, Cat Noir could totally handle dealing with de-evilising akumas and all if he had the powers for it, it’s just that only Ladybug’s yoyo can even do that. Second, that has nothing to do with how well he’d fare in a fight against Ladybug if neither of them have even been akumatised!”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right on that, but…” Adrien chuckled, then paused, looking curiously at Marinette. “Wait a sec… how do you know how their powers work well enough to know Cat Noir can’t de-evilise akumas?”

Marinette gasped, her eyes going wide, as she realised her slip up. Her nerves finally catching up to her after a full day of back-and-forth with Adrien, she began stammering. “Oh, uh, well, I guess I just… I read it on the Ladyblog?”

Adrien smirked and shook his head. “Nuh uh, no way, Marinette, I read everything Alya posts, she’s definitely never mentioned that. Ladybug and Cat Noir have never even commented on that to anyone,” Adrien said. His suspicion grew as he spoke, which slowed down his voice and opened his eyes wide.

Suddenly, Marinette noticed a gap in Adrien’s logic to crawl into and hide from the question by throwing one right back. “Okay, well how do you even know it always is Ladybug who de-evilises the akuma? I’ve never noticed you anywhere nearby when it’s happened. In fact, sometimes the only people there are Ladybug, Cat Noir, and the victim!”

Now it was Adrien’s turn to recoil and splutter. “W-well, I- I’ve never seen you anywhere nearby when Ladybug de-evilises akuma either, Marinette!”

For a moment that felt like a lifetime, they just stared at each other, both looking horrified by what they’d said, their faces both becoming pinker and pinker.

“But you’re right. We - we both know about things that only happen when Ladybug and Cat Noir are alone with victims,” Adrien mumbled.

Another pregnant pause. Then…

“You’re-

“Cat Noir!”

“Ladybug!”

“Boy, about time you two figured that out!”

The pair looked up and saw Tikki and Plagg sitting on the edge of Marinette’s bed, munching on snacks and watching the pair. Tikki hit Plagg.

“Ow, what was that for!?”

“Don’t be so rude, Plagg!”

“But it’s true! If it wasn’t obvious before they really should have caught on by, what, hour four of whatever this is!”

Marinette and Adrien simply gaped at the pair of kwamis sitting together.

“Perhaps we should leave them alone, Plagg. I’ll make sure you get a whole wheel of camembert if you come with me right now,” Tikki sighed, floating up towards the skylight.

“Done and done!”

Tikki led Plagg through the closed window to wait on the roof. Marinette and Adrien turned back to each other. They both burst out laughing.

“I don’t know what’s more surprising,” Adrien said, wiping away a tear. “That you’re Ladybug, or that it took this long for me to realise you’re Ladybug!”

“I can’t believe we’ve spent the whole day arguing about who would win in a fight between ourselves!” said Marinette.

Adrien caught himself, and stopped laughing. “Wait. So… that means… you… you, Ladybug… you really think all of that about me?”

Marinette looked over and felt her heart flutter as she saw the enormous smile across Adrien’s face, and the tiny tears in the corners of his eyes. She smiled at him.

“Of course I do… Cat. You need to know that from the very beginning, I could never have done any of this without you. You helped me believe in myself, believe I had what it takes. You’ve always been by my side, fighting with me. And I’m tired of people treating you like you’re my sidekick, you’re so much more, you’re… you’re my partner. My best friend…”

Tears were now flowing freely down Adrien’s cheeks, and Marinette felt herself welling up too. “I- I can’t begin to say how much it means to hear you say that… m’lady.”

In a flash Marinette went from teary and smiling to bright crimson and hiding her face. “I can’t believe Adrien Agreste just called me his lady!”

Adrien laughed. “And I can’t believe that I’m calling Marinette Dupain-Cheng my lady! But… but how could it have been anyone else!? Everything I’ve said about you all day… your resourcefulness, cleverness, creativity… all of that is Ladybug and all of that is Marinette, because of course it is, you’re the same person! Not to mention how funny you are, your kindness, your righteousness, always ready to stick up for whoever needs your help, no matter the cost. Everything I see of you as Ladybug is everything I see of you as Marinette, like a reflection in the mirror… both sides of you complement and complete the other, how did it take me this long!?”

He kept laughing, sweeping back his hair. Marinette laughed too, watching him, and as his hair fell back in place she realised it had shifted, looking just like Cat Noir’s… which, of course it was. That’s when her face fell, eyes shooting wide and mouth hanging open once again.

“Wait, so… that means… Cat Noir is in love with Ladybug, and Adrien is Cat Noir, so Adrien is in love with Ladybug, and Marinette is Ladybug, so that means Adrien is in love with Marinette!? And Marinette is in love with Adrien, and Adrien is Cat Noir, so Marinette is in love with Cat Noir, and Marinette is Ladybug, so Ladybug is in love with Cat Noir!?” she rambled out, stopping only to take a breath. “And… and I’ve been rejecting you all this time!?”

At some point in all that, Adrien had gasped and flushed again. He hadn’t been able to fully understand all that being said in about three seconds, but he’d heard what he needed to. “Marinette… you… you love me?”

Marinette squawked and leapt to her feet. “Wow, well, would you look at the time, I really had better be getting home!” she said, making her way to leave her bedroom.

Adrien caught her hand to stop her, and it immediately calmed her. Marinette looked him in the eyes and said, “Yeah. I… I’ve always loved you, Adrien. From the very beginning. From the moment I saw who you really were, when you handed me that umbrella… and now I realise it was so much more, because we had already fought together - well, I mean, we fought, but I mean we fought alongside each other as well, and-”

Adrien chuckled as Marinette began rambling once again, but knew he needed to put her out of her misery the best way he possibly could. He gently pulled her hand to move her forward slightly as he lowered his head and kissed her. Sweetly, softly, their lips just brushing against each other, before he pulled back. Their eyes met, shining with the sheer joy of it, and Marinette pulled Adrien in again, wrapping her arms around his neck in order to reach him.

Some time later, once the sky outside had darkened, they had eaten dinner (Marinette’s parents being courteous enough to knock before bringing food in after getting no response for half an hour beforehand), and had the chance to relive many past adventures together, and get to know each other’s kwamis, Marinette and Adrien sat together arm in arm on her chaise longue.

“Well,” Adrien said, grinning. “After all that, asking the right question to finally realise who we both are and make this happen. I’d say that makes me the winner of that debate!”

Marinette smiled and sighed softly, cuddling up closer to him. “I suppose you’re right, kitty. You beat me. So, clearly Cat Noir is smarter than Ladybug.”

“Wait, what!? No!”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there.
> 
> I'm new around here. Got into Miraculous a few months ago and fell in love with these adorable idiots. So much so that I got inspired to write fanfiction for the first time in seven freaking years.
> 
> If you enjoyed this, look forward to more Love Square goodness, especially Adrienette. They're just the flipping cutest. I love them. They're so dumb.
> 
> Comments always appreciated, I'm a little rusty.


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